long beach state notes

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SoCalHoops College News

Long Beach State Preview:
Coaches' Luncheon Notes--(Oct. 8, 1999)

We made some quick notes based on what we heard and read yesterday at the LA Athletic Club from each of the coaches we saw. Here are some observations on Long Beach State for the coming season 1999-2000, the roster, some schedule notes and other assorted stuff:

Long Beach State--Head Coach Wayne Morgan

Wayne Morgan was not nearly as funny as Bob Williams or some of the other coaches, but that's probably because he doesn't have a lot to be laughing about; his team was not as bad as the one Coach Fisher at SDSU inherited, so he can't quite joke about it the way Fisher did, and they certainly didn't over-achieve so there was nothing to be satisfied about from last year's squad, and like Fisher said, the good news is that there are a lot of returning players, and the bad news could also be that there are a lot of returning players. Even if the team did slightly improve last year, finishing 13-15 and 9-7 in Big West conference play, that's still nothing to write home about. This will be the first time in his coaching tenure that Morgan will actually have more returning players than newcomers, and again the good-news-bad-news saying might apply. But only time will tell.

Morgan is in his fourth year, and in his first three, he's compiled a record of 36-48. He does come from a winning tradition and was the lead recruiter as an assistant at Syracuse for 12 year under coach Jim Boeheim; prior to that, Morgan was an assistant at Xavier University from '79-'84 under Robert Staak, and for four years ('75-'79) was an assistant at Dartmouth College. Here's the roster for this season:

Ron Johnson (6'-1" So. G) San Diego, CA/Helix HS
Antrone Lee (6'-7" Sr. G/F) Thomson, GA/Univ. of Florida
D'Cean Bryant (6'-7" Sr. F)-5th year (Lynwood, CA/Lynwood HS)
Keith Felton (5'-10" Jr. G) Las Vegas, NV/Highland CC (IL)
Mate Milisa (6'-11" Sr. F) Zagreb, Croatia/Pensacola JC
Charles O'Neal (6'-3" Sr. G) Pontiac, MI/Florida CC
Grant Stone (6'-8" Jr. F) Tulsa, OK/Jenks HS
Brad Smith (6'-4" Jr. G) Fullerton, CA/Cypress JC
Ramel "Rock" Lloyd (6'-4" Jr. G) Bronx, NY/Syracuse Univ.
Cesar Sanchez (6'-5" Jr. F) New York, NY//Garden City CC
Travis Reed (6'-8" Jr. F) Fontana, CA./UCLA**redshirt
Richie Smalls (6'-8" Sr. F) Bronx, NY/St. Catherine CC
Danny Horan (6'-8" Fr. F) Anaheim, CA/Villa Park HS
Rory Clark (6'-7" Jr. F) Morongo Valley, CA/Hawaii Pacific
Rudy Williams (6'-9" Jr. F) St. Louis, MO/Dixie JC

Eight players return from last year. Mate Milisa and Rock Lloyd were named to the All-Big West second team and will be the two team captains this season. Last year, Lloyd led the team in scoring at 18.0 ppg and Milisa was second at 13.9 ppg, and Milisa was also the top rebounder at 5.6 rpg with the best shooting percentage at 50% from the floor. Charles O'Neal will also be expected to shoot the ball, as well as distribute it, and last year he led the team in assists with 3.6 per game, and O'Neal gives the team a true starting point guard, although with Ron Johnson, who played very well as a true freshman hitting for double-doubles in at least a couple of games, he's a very tough competitor, and while he probably won't start this year, he'll see some significant minutes. Admittedly, Morgan must have been disappointed by the failure of All-City Section MVP James Wright (6'-1" PG) from Manual Arts, to qualify, and he would have added incredible depth and speed in the backcourt, something which Long Beach will need if they're going to make a serious run this year. Also returning is D'Cean Bryant (Travon's older brother) who will be playing his fourth year as a 5th year senior after graduating this summer; he's attending a masters program, and will see some quality time this season inside at the three-four positions. Also returning is Antrone Lee, who scored 15 ppg and 5.3 rpg over the final three games of the year and was named to the All-Big West team. He's a senior who will be expected to provide some crucial leadership to this team. Grant Stone will bring some solid rebounding and defense to the frontline, and will be joined up front by newcomer Rudy Williams from Dixie college. He's an athletic four man, who can score inside or out, and averaged 12.8 ppg and 7.6 rebounds for Dixie last year. Also new to the team is Cesar Sanchez, from Garden City JC in NY and Keith Felton who will also provide some depth at the point guard spot; Felton ranked 9th in the nation last year among JUCO players. Brad Smith from Cypress College will also add some excellent shooting from the perimeter.

Long Beach will play not an overly tough schedule this season, but the preseason will include some fairly tough non-conference opponents, including Syracuse, St. Josephs and Richmond, and Kansas State. The 49'ers will appear in the Carrier Classic in December and then will have other non-conference home games against USC, LMU, and D-II Cal State Dominguez Hills, in addition to Southern Illinois, Albany and Cal State Monterey Bay before gearing up for Big West Conference play in January. We've checked most of the polls and they aren't expected to finish better than the middle of the pack, but in this conference just about anything can, and often does happen.